The Slayer (Untamed Hearts #2)(162)

“We have to go,” Chuito said to Wyatt when he came walking up. “Right now.”

“No,” Wyatt growled as if he knew what that meant. “I’m not gonna let y’all take off again.”

“Wyatt—” Chuito let out a bark of laughter. “We just discussed this. You need to let it go. If you owe Nova, then you’ll help him.”

Nova turned to look back at Wyatt and then glared at Chuito. “Chu—”

“Hey, he said he owes you.” Chuito shrugged, giving Nova a cryptic look. “If that’s true, the least he can do is help with Jules.”

“I need more details,” Wyatt cut in. “Who is this?”

“Yeah, what the f*ck are we gonna do with you?” Nova gestured to Carina as an afterthought, as if the fear over Tino made him forget about the issue of his sister. “The old man is gonna know you betrayed him and—”

“We’re leaving her with Romeo,” Alaine said.

“Oh, he’s gonna love you for that,” Nova said bitterly. “Good, you know what, leave her with Romeo. They can commiserate together about how much they both hate me. Great plan.”

“I don’t really know Romeo,” Carina argued. “Staying with him would be awkward.”

“We could always bury her instead,” Nova suggested.

“Who is she?” Wyatt repeated.

Alaine pointed to Carina. “This is Nova’s sister.”

Wyatt gaped. “You have a sister?”

“She’s gonna help Jules in the office while we go get Tino. She can take my place and—”

Nova burst out laughing.

“What?” Carina snapped at him.

“I’m just thinking that I would pay several million dollars to see you try to be Jules’s assistant,” Nova said with a dark smile. “Seriously, Carina, I’ll double your inheritance if you agree to set up a webcam in that office. Seeing the original mafia princess try to do that job would be the highlight of my life.”

Carina flipped him off in response, really enthusiastically.

“They got a place over the garage for you to stay too,” Nova added with a hard, ugly glare at his sister. “Tables turn so quickly. Hopefully they won’t beat you when they’re having a bad day.”

“I never wanted that,” Carina whispered with a catch in her voice. “He’s my brother too.”

“Is Tino in trouble?” Wyatt asked all of them.

“Yes,” Chuito and Alaine answered together, before Chuito added, “A lot of trouble. Let us go get him. Trust us.”

Wyatt stood there, looking conflicted.

“Fuck,” he groaned after a long moment, as if it went against everything in him. “Fine. Leave her. I’ll take care of her.”

“Tino wanted her to stay with Romeo,” Alaine warned. “He said—”

“Her father tried to kill Jules and Romeo,” Wyatt reminded them.

“Awkward,” Carina repeated from her spot on the ground. “I can rent a place or—”

“Is it true that she can protect the twins?” Alaine asked Nova.

Nova shrugged. “Well, considering our grandfather thinks the sun rises and sets on her ass—”

“I hate you too. That also needs to be stated,” Carina announced in the same icy, furious tone Nova used. “You took away the one thing that gave him a reason to be truly happy. You took away Brianna’s only reason too.”

“Better than setting them up to be tortured as bait. If she’s with him when they catch him, they’re both going down, and it’ll be your fault,” Nova countered with a glare. “Congratulations, Carina. You always seem to be just one step above me. Still the golden child. Your nonno is gonna be so pleased.”

Carina let out a sob. “Why do you always do this? You always make me feel so stupid.”

“That’s not really a challenge,” Nova said with the sharp, angry sarcasm of a genius. “You do it all on your own, princess.”

“Y’all need to go,” Wyatt said firmly. “Go get Tino back. I’ll deal with Jules.”

“Thanks, Wyatt,” Chuito said as he grabbed Alaine’s hand. “Let’s go.”

“It’s going to be okay,” Alaine promised Carina, realizing in that one strange moment that she was trading places with this woman. “Jules is kind. Romeo is too. You’ll be fine staying in Tino’s place over the garage. They certainly aren’t going to beat you.”

“Come on.” Chuito kicked Nova. “Get your shit together, Moretti. Stop sulking. We’ll get him back. You’ll figure out something. You always do. We’ll take my car. Do we need supplies?”

“Not if we’re going to New York,” Nova said as he got to his feet. “I have plenty of supplies.”

“Okay,” Chuito said, and then he hugged Alaine, picking her off her feet so that she was forced to wrap her arms around him. “You sure you wanna come, mami? You can stay here.”

“You better take me,” she said as she pressed her lips to him. “I have a tattoo that says we’re in this together.”

Chuito ran his hand up to the back of her neck, sweeping his thumb over the small, ornate Omertá tattoo at the base of her hairline. “I love you.”